Clearing the Decks

Have you heard that the Tour de Fleece is right around the corner? The event is a world-wide spinalong that runs concurrently with the Tour de France.

Get it? Biking = Spinning? Like that killer class at the gym on the stationary bikes? Ouch.

The dates for those of you interested in spinning along are June 30 – July 22, 2012. You can join a team if you like in the Ravelry Group and be eligible for fun prizes. I joined the Rookies for my first year. Although I post more about spinning than you may have ever wanted to know – I’m still quite the rookie, learning something new with every project.

I finished spindling those Happily Ever After batts – one batt on each spindle, then plied them together. I finished with 300 yards of two-ply fingering weight yarn.

Things I learned:

I need to hold my fiber looser. I tend to clutch it, get sweaty hands and make clumps that are difficult to draft

If I ply a little looser, I get a softer, loftier yarn

I love bamboo! Must get more!

Now on to the fun of planning my project for the Tour. :rubbing hands together:

Comments

That yarn is wonderful! I have some to practice on but in my move to the upstairs craft room, I’ve misplaced my spindle… I have a turkish one but I was wanting to try my other one again, not that I can really do either anyway… lol.

Your yarn looks beautiful! With 300 yards, you’ll be able to make something really beautiful. I’m very impressed that you can spin bamboo. I’ve had terrible luck with it. My current favorite is alpaca, because there is so much alpaca fiber produced locally, but it’s very warm to be dealing with in the summer. Nevertheless I think I’ll spin my current stash of it for Tour de Fleece.

Hmmmm…maybe I did okay with the bamboo because it was mixed with the merino and alpaca. What sort of problems did you have with it? I think I might make the Darling, Darling Stay with me Shawlette for my new daughter in law. It looks easy in the body, and the lace edging is pretty, though I’ll be white knuckling the amount at 300 yards.

Yes! I’m a rookie too this year! I have a ton of gray fiber that came with my wheel that I have yet to spin. AND, if I even get close to finishing that, I have some army green too (meh). If I don’t spin that stuff during the Tour, I know I never will! I keep seeing pretty hand dyed/painted roving around every corner, lol!